On launching the petition, CRBM chairman Mike Bradley said: "All we are asking for is to be treated the same as every other region. All of the others get half or more of what they spend invested back into their region.

"We want to make sure that our proposals for the Midlands are on the table when the charter renewal negotiations begin in June and July.

"In the past, we have written to the BBC Trust chair, who has forwarded us to the Culture Secretary, who has forwarded us back to the BBC Trust chair. It seems the lack of investment in the Midlands is problem people are keen to pass on.

"Nobody has been prepared to challenge management decisions to close down production at The Mailbox."

The petition calls on the Culture Secretary to ensure half of licence fee income raised in the Midlands – which takes in the East as well as the West Midlands – is reinvested in the region within five years of a new charter.

It is in line with the Post's demands, outlined last week, which also include calls for 12.5 per cent of prime-time production to take place here and a new fund, at least part-backed by the licence fee, for production in the Midlands.

BBC investment has been falling in the Midlands in the past five years - despite rising in every other UK region outside London.

Compared to the £12.40 per licence fee-payer the BBC spends in this region, it invests £80 in the North, £122 in Wales and £757 in London.

That is despite the East and West Midlands being the BBC’s largest region, with more than a quarter of its revenue raised here.

Mr Bradley said, with the charter renewal set to shape the BBC for ten years to come, it was vital for this region.

He said: "It is absolutely essential we break through now. My view is they will probably ratify the licence fee for the next charter, possibly with a view to looking for a replacement by the end of the charter period.

"That could mean the final ten years of this particular system – but we don’t have that much time.

"We are the only poor relation left and, unless we see some change, there won’t be any television production here."

City film producer Tom Lawes said work in Birmingham had dried up in the past five years on the back of under-investment from the BBC.

Mr Lawes, owner of the Electric Cinema, previously worked for the BBC but said he had seen the industry squeezed in recent years.

He said: "There is hardly any drama done here any more. Then we used to do some post production for the BBC when I started at the Electric - it was how I paid the bills at the start - but that work dried up.

"And it wasn't just me – all the companies which worked on the periphery saw their work dry up. They either collapsed or moved away, so there was a brain drain.

"Then, all of a sudden, you have a vacuum and anyone who wants to come into the area and produce anything would really struggle to find a crew."

Inside BBC Midlands Today studios at The Mailbox

So low is the BBC's expenditure in the Midlands, it invests less here than on one building - its Broadcasting House headquarters in London - which cost £89 million last year.

City MP Gisela Stuart, who has campaigned for more BBC investment for years, said a licence fee shake-up strengthened calls for fairer representation.

Under new proposals, all families, regardless of whether they have a television, will have to pay to fund the BBC – meaning Midlanders will have no choice over paying into the broadcaster.

Mrs Stuart (Lab Edgbaston) said having a catch-all levy would increase pressure on the BBC to stop ignoring the Midlands.

She said: "This strengthens our case because we will have a directly population-based levy which no longer has anything to do with owning a television.

"It makes the argument about a correlation between where money is raised and expenditure in that region all the stronger."

Last week, the parliamentary Culture, Media and Sport Committee said the £145.50 annual licence fee should ultimately be replaced by a German-style "broadcasting levy" that would apply to every household.

The change would allow the BBC to collect funds from the estimated 500,000 households which claim not to have a television or only watch programmes on-demand through platforms like the BBC iPlayer.